Lookout notice issued against Manpreet Badal in plot buying case

mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, Sep 26, 2023: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Tuesday issued a lookout circular (LOC) notice against Manpreet Singh Badal, the former finance minister of Punjab, in connection with alleged irregularities in the purchase of a property in Bathinda.

Officials suspect that Badal might flee the country to evade arrest, and have therefore put all airports on alert.

 

The move comes a day after the vigilance authorities registered a case against Badal and five others in the Bathinda property case.

Following the registration of the FIR, the police have initiated a search operation to locate Badal. Officials conducted raids at his residence and other known locations, but his current whereabouts are not certain.

Moreover, Badal’s petition for anticipatory bail is also scheduled for a hearing today.

Apart from Badal, who is now with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), former Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) chief administrator Bikramjit Shergill was also named in the case. The other four booked in the case were identified as Rajiv Kumar, Amandeep Singh, Vikas Arora and Pankaj, an official said.

The vigilance bureau had launched an investigation into the matter based on former MLA Sarup Chand Singla’s 2021 complaint alleging irregularities in the purchase of property at a prime location in Bathinda.

BJP leader Singla, who was earlier with the Shiromani Akali Dal, had alleged that Badal, as a minister in the previous Congress dispensation, had abused his position to convert two commercial plots into a residential plot for himself.

The case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including sections 420 (cheating) and 468 (forgery), and also under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Courtesy: India Today